By: Rachel Masselle '14When I got into work Monday morning I was shaken by the news that a beloved Professor of mine, Dr. Michael Kiskis had suffered a heart attack over the weekend and had died. To the Elmira College Community and myself it was a complete and utter blow. Dr. Kiskis had been in fine health the last time I saw him at Thursday’s class and was making big plans for both our class and a book he was working on about Mark Twain and domesticity. Finding out about his death seemed unreal and to be honest I felt like someone was playing a sick joke; and a part of me wished that’s all it was: a sick joke. But it wasn’t and my peers and I had to face the reality of the situation.
We attended class that day to make a plan about how we were going to finish out the rest of the course. The Professors all felt that they did not have the knowledge that Dr. Kiskis had about 19th Century American Literature to take over the class. Therefore, we were each assigned to different English Professors who would collect our papers and grade them as best as they could. They decided we would not formally meet as a class and instead would take on this course as sort of an independent study.
We students, however, felt that it was a shame to not meet formally. Especially because Dr. Kiskis had believed that an important aspect of the class was a student driven discussion. It was then we made the decision to meet informally. We decided to take on the class discussion ourselves and explore the books that our Professor would have wanted us to read. My peers and I will do our best to carry on the “vision” that he had for the Kindle Class. I hope we will make him proud.
Though I only met Dr. Kiskis in Term III, while taking his “Kindle Class” I instantly grew attached to him. He was warm, funny, intelligent, unique, and he genuinely cared about his students. He evoked a love for literature in all his students and stressed how important it was that people not only read novels that were considered timeless and classic, but also novels that we just liked to read. He was a truly unique Professor who believed that teaching people to read for pleasure was one of his most important tasks. I only had him as a Professor for three weeks, but he touched my life in so many ways in that short amount of time. He was truly one of a kind and I don’t think any of my peers will mind me saying for them that we will certainly never forget the impact he had made on our lives.
"Especially because Dr. Kiskis had believed that an important aspect of the class was a student driven discussion."
ReplyDeleteIn my four years at EC (1997 - 2001), I studied with Michael on at least two subjects every term. On a monthly basis he engaged someone, colleague or student, in a dialogue about the vital importance of peer-focused discussion in a learning environment.
This need informed so much of his teaching style, but most especially his practice of rereading every work that he assigned along with his students, to ensure that he was learning again with every one of us, and in the hope that he would find "something new worth contributing".
The highest praise I received from Michael was, "you did good" scrawled across one of my papers. I imagine that if he watched you and your classmates determining how to complete your studies, Rachel, he would be proud of you for recognizing your own autonomy as learners -- and he might sit back and say, "you did good" about his own work as a teacher.
Dr. Kiskis helped me to understand who Twain was and what American Literature is. I am forever indebted to him, and my current students benefit. As an alumni from the English program at EC, I know that the department is suffering in so many ways. Recently, I emailed w/ Dr. Kiskis and he was still able to offer me insight, and make me feel like an eager student. It is clear that his vision for his students was thriving at EC. I hope to carry on his legacy. Thank you Dr. Kiskis.
ReplyDeleteMoving tribute to Dr. Kiskis, and you are right that he would have liked that you and your classmates continued meeting.
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